Re-posted from Progressive Dane’s website: Each week, after consulting some of our elected officials, we will post one action you can take – typically going to a meeting and supporting their work – that will also support the goals in our platforms. Many people are talking about how with president-elect Trump, we need to double down on our actions locally. And we’re here to help figure out what you can do!
This week’s action is tonight!
WHO: You! And the Dane County Board
WHAT: The Sheriff Department is getting a new Bearcat, which they insist is “not a tank” but take a look! How will this thing be used? What are the policies surrounding it and how can the public be assured that the militarization of our police isn’t happening right here in Dane County?
WHEN: 7:00 tonight! Thursday, December 15th.
WHERE: City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 201
WHY: Progressive Dane has been working on policing issues for quite some time, oOur platforms call for us to be scrutinizing policing policies and avoiding militarization of the police.
Here’s the agenda for the meeting, and the specific Item: AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT TO ACCEPT GRANT FUNDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF AN ARMORED RESCUE VEHICLE
If you can show up and ask how will this vehicle be used, or send an email to the county board County_Board_Recipients@countyofdane.com asking them to have reasonable policies in place about the usage of this vehicle, that would be great!
Here’s the current policy:
Bearcat ARV
The Bearcat Armored Rescue Vehicle can be used to enter a hot zone for the protection of lives, delivery of emergency medical care, and for the extraction of injured citizens. The ARV may also be used as protection to facilitate a negotiated surrender of a suspect, deliver law enforcement tools and/or supplies to deputies attempting to resolve a crisis. The ARV should be operated by trained operators in accordance to the manufacturer’s specifications.
For more ideas about how you can get involved in local government, check our the weekly meeting schedules re-posted on our blog!
Brenda, I can’t get very outraged about this. Yes, in an ideal world law enforcement would never use lethal force on anyone, and military-grade vehicles would not be built (at least not for sheriff’s departments) , however until we get sensible gun control passed at the state and/or federal level someone has to plan for terrible situations involving hostages and ‘active shooters.’ Expecting a pacifistic response to firearm proliferation from law enforcement is setting oneself up for despair.